We should not get
too excited by news that the Swaziland Broadcasting Bill (2013) contains a
provision for community radio stations to operate – it is not going to happen.
The Bill sets
out some general guidelines for how the stations might operate. It states that
a community broadcasting service shall serve a community, and the members of
that community that such community broadcasting service is intended to serve
shall be given an opportunity to run the service. The programming provided by a
community broadcasting service shall reflect the needs of the people in the
community, which shall include culture, language and demographic needs.
The broadcaster
shall provide distinct broadcasting service dealing specifically with issues
which are not predominantly dealt with by the public broadcasting service
covering the same area. The station shall serve to eradicate information
poverty through participatory communication in the community as well as being
informative, educational and entertaining.
And that is why
they will never get off the ground. The community radio stations would allow
voices at present unheard in Swaziland to take to the airwaves, and that is
something King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last
absolute monarch, does not want to happen.
Nearly all
broadcasting in Swaziland is state controlled and the news and information that
is given out by them is heavily censored. The only non-state controlled broadcasting
– one radio station and one TV channel – censor themselves sufficiently that
they are indistinguishable from the state controlled ones.
At present there are no community radio stations in
Swaziland. Any attempts to set up community radio in Swaziland have been
stalled by a government that says it is in support of such initiatives, but
which fails to come up with the licences to let it happen.
If community radio
stations were to launch and truly served the interests of their community they
would challenge the present news media that is dominated by the needs of
political, social and business elites in the kingdom.
The Bill might raise the optimism levels of people advocating for freedom of speech in Swaziland, but that optimism would be misplaced.
The Bill might raise the optimism levels of people advocating for freedom of speech in Swaziland, but that optimism would be misplaced.
There has been
little evidence since the Swazi Constitution was enacted in February 2006 that
the kingdom is moving toward democracy. The news media are still unable to
publish material critical of the monarchy and government ministers have sought
to restrict the media’s access to information.
There is no such thing as a free press in Swaziland. There are at least 30 pieces of legislation that restricts the activities of the media in some way or another. Newspapers must be licensed by the government and any number of informal rules of conduct governs what can be talked about in the media and other public spaces.
There is no such thing as a free press in Swaziland. There are at least 30 pieces of legislation that restricts the activities of the media in some way or another. Newspapers must be licensed by the government and any number of informal rules of conduct governs what can be talked about in the media and other public spaces.
There is no
reason why the ruling elite in Swaziland would want to relax these laws and
rules to allow more voices to be heard. The reason why they presently restrict
the media is to control the flow of information and discussion. In this way
members of the elite groups maintain their privileged positions.
A ‘community’ radio station should be a non-profit service that is owned and managed by the particular community the radio station serves. They are also different from the present commercial or state-controlled media in Swaziland because they allow a diversity of voices and opinions to be heard. This is because they are open to participation from all parts of the community.
Community radio can provide a platform for the discussion about matters that the community itself consider important. These issues might not be the same things that the monarch, the chiefs, or business houses think are important. And, because community radio allows dissenting voices to be heard people who presently have control in Swaziland will see it as dangerous.
The Bill is also unlikely to be enacted because the chiefs will not allow it. In Swaziland the non-democratic nature of the kingdom requires people to defer to the wishes of local chiefs (who are in effect representatives of the monarch). If the chiefs do not support the community radio project, it will not happen. It really is as simple as that.
We have yet to see what position the chiefs take on the Bill but it is difficult to see that they would allow potentially subversive media into their areas. Instead, if they allowed the community radio into their chiefdoms at all they would want to have control over them. This would make it impossible to have truly ‘community’ radio. However, the idea of a ‘local’ radio, along the lines of the present national state-controlled SBIS that prominently reported the chiefs’ comings and goings (as the national radio does with the king) would probably be very attractive to them.
A ‘community’ radio station should be a non-profit service that is owned and managed by the particular community the radio station serves. They are also different from the present commercial or state-controlled media in Swaziland because they allow a diversity of voices and opinions to be heard. This is because they are open to participation from all parts of the community.
Community radio can provide a platform for the discussion about matters that the community itself consider important. These issues might not be the same things that the monarch, the chiefs, or business houses think are important. And, because community radio allows dissenting voices to be heard people who presently have control in Swaziland will see it as dangerous.
The Bill is also unlikely to be enacted because the chiefs will not allow it. In Swaziland the non-democratic nature of the kingdom requires people to defer to the wishes of local chiefs (who are in effect representatives of the monarch). If the chiefs do not support the community radio project, it will not happen. It really is as simple as that.
We have yet to see what position the chiefs take on the Bill but it is difficult to see that they would allow potentially subversive media into their areas. Instead, if they allowed the community radio into their chiefdoms at all they would want to have control over them. This would make it impossible to have truly ‘community’ radio. However, the idea of a ‘local’ radio, along the lines of the present national state-controlled SBIS that prominently reported the chiefs’ comings and goings (as the national radio does with the king) would probably be very attractive to them.
See also
THE CASE FOR COMMUNITY MEDIA
SWAZILAND NEEDS MORE MEDIA OUTLETS
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